John Talavera
Autism iHelp – WH Questions
Who, what, when, where, and why questions are often the questions that teachers use to foster engagement, verbal communication skills, higher-order thinking, and hopefully, a deeper understanding of the world. This tool is geared toward...
Curated OER
Investigating Velocity Effects at Takeoff
Young scholars use, with increasing confidence, problem-solving approaches to investigate and explain mathematical content. They make and test conjectures. They use tables and graphs as tools to interpret expressions, equations, and...
Curated OER
Whodunnit?
Want to create an exciting mystery activity? Investigators will identify the elements of a mystery, review mystery stories, then write their own mysteries. They engage in forensic science experiments related to mysteries and learn to ask...
NPR
Distracted by Everything - Being Wired at All Times
This multimedia activity challenges media-savvy learners to look at the critical issue concerning the inundation of technology and multitasking in the classroom, and its effects on the education of themselves and others. The tasks...
Curated OER
Exploring a Teaching Career Through an Energy Lesson
After learning how to dentify information on energy and its conservation. your class can work in groups to create an activity and lesson plan for elementary students, teaching all about energy and its conservation. Students demonstrate...
Curated OER
Lab Experiments in Nutrition
Looking for authentic hands-on nutritional experiments? High schoolers will perform experiments to test for the presence of vitamin C in several solutions as well as the effect of caffeine on Daphnia. They will also consider the...
Curated OER
Rules for Rubrics
How do you create an effective and fair rubric? Read this article to create the best rubric possible.
Media Education Lab
Propaganda in Context
"Board Game Helps Fight Real World Ebola," a video produced by Voice of America, provides the text for a guided instructional activity that asks viewers to analyze the propaganda techniques used in the video. Groups then select a example...
Curated OER
Taking a Closer Look (Critical Viewing)
Students explore persuasive writing in advertisements. In this advertisements lesson, students evaluate tobacco advertisements for persuasion techniques. Students then create a counter advertisement against smoking.
Curated OER
Communication In U.S. Society; Radio In America
Pupils see how radio began the modern consumer society, shaped societal views on peoples and cultures and changed family home life forever. Radio shrank the world by bringing far-away places, events, and individuals into peoples living...
Virginia Department of Education
Physical and Chemical Properties of Water
How can you effectively provide detailed concepts of water properties to your high school class in a way they find exciting and challenging at the same time? By letting them play, of course! Through a variety of...
Curated OER
Get a Leg Up
Traveling through space is an amazing experience, but it definitely takes a toll on the body. After reading an article and watching a brief video, learners perform an experiment that simulates the effects of zero gravity on the...
Curated OER
Translating Teacher Talk
Interpreting the world of teacher vernacular to improve communication.
Curated OER
Ida Tarbell: Hysterical Woman vs. Historical Facts
Learners examine journalism and its different styles. In this effective communication instructional activity students create an editorial message and articulate an article.
Academy of American Poets
The African American Experience
Disrespect can be as subtle as a frown or a turn of a head. To prepare for a study of Toi Derricote's poem "The Weakness" class members create wordless skits that demonstrate subtle or not so subtle signs of disrespect. After a...
Curated OER
: "Synthesizing Content on a Continuum" Activity: Developing Effective Communication
Students express their opinions on the danger from HIV. They study appropriate speaking techniques and become aware what it feels like to learn that they have been infected with an incurable, fatal disease. The share personal...
Curated OER
Animals and Humans Say the Darnedest Things
Students explore and analyze human and animal communications and create a short film that illustrates their findings.
Curated OER
Kindergarten Constitution
Students create their own classroom constitution. In this leadership skills lesson, students work together to solve problems. Students discuss why rules are important and brainstorm ways to solve classroom problems. Students vote on the...
Curated OER
Meet Our Class
Students survey the exploration of oneself through self-assessment and interviews by others. They organize ways to present themselves to the world through writing and artwork. They also customize research from a computer as a tool for...
Curated OER
Introducing Microsoft Word
Young scholars introduced to word processing by having them open a new document and use at least three to five commands within the program. Word processing commands are reinforced and practiced to gain more knowledge about entering and...
Curated OER
Friendship
Students investigate the concept of friendship as part of a four lessons unit which integrates literature with language arts, family life, social studies, or religious studies. Peace, cooperation, social justice, and multicultural...
Curated OER
Writing an Original Fable
Students discover how to write fables. In this writing skill lesson, students review the literary elements of fables and take all of the steps in the writing process to create their own fables.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Respect for Self and Others—Giving and Getting the Big R
Tween find out what it means to give and get respect. After reviewing the Recipe for Relationships studied in a previous lesson, groups create a dramatization of two-minute scenario in which an individual behaves inappropriately in a...
Curated OER
The Graffiti Model 1
Eighth graders work together in groups to practice their communication skills. They answer different questions based on what group they are in and communicate the information to different groups. They discuss the activity to end the lesson.